Reviewed by True and Anabela M.
TITLE: The Reluctant Royal
AUTHOR: Catherine Curzon & Eleanor Harkstead
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 352 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 26, 2021
BLURB:
As an unseen enemy draws near, a royal bodyguard must choose between duty and love.
Risking his life to save a princess is all in a day’s work for Sergeant Joe Wenlock, a Close Protection Officer detailed to protect the royal family. After months of recovery following his brush with death, Joe’s ready to return to duties. But Alejandro Fuente-Sastre, as infuriating as he is fabulous, is the last royal Joe wants to be assigned to.
Alejandro isn’t quite the sort of queen that the British royal family is used to, but when Joe learns that Her Majesty’s step-grandson is also drag bombshell Paloma Picante, it makes his job a whole lot tougher. But is there more to Alejo than sulking and sequins?
When Alejandro’s life is threatened by an unseen tormentor who progresses from internet trolling to arson and violence, Joe must keep his charge safe from harm.
Living in close quarters with the man he shouldn’t be falling for, Joe begins to discover his true self. But as Alejandro’s enemy prowls ever nearer, Joe must make the impossible choice between duty and love.
Reader advisory: This book contains instances of homophobia and homophobic language, cyberbullying and threats, harassment, terrorism, drug use and abuse, Islamophobia and suicide. There are mentions of domestic abuse, including physical, emotional and gaslighting.
TRUE’S REVIEW:
Sergeant Joe Wenlock has to ‘babysit‘ Alejandro Fuente-Sastre who got hate messages on social media. Not just but the scary ones, scary enough to need protection.
It’s Joe’s first job after six months of recovery. He got injured saving the Duchess’ life.
Alejandro is the stepson and son of the Duke and Duchess of Albany, the Duchess is the one who specifically asked for Joe to protect her son.
The Duke is the son of the Queen of The United Kingdom, yes we are talking about royals.
Joe is still married when he first meets Paloma, the beautiful drag queen, and with only one kiss he can’t seem to get her out of his head. His marriage isn’t a good one, never was and will not endure for long. Joe is gay and nobody knows it.
When they meet again, businesslike, he doesn’t know Alejandro is Paloma.
Joe is mesmerized by Paloma slash Alejandro.
Alejandro is a makeup artist and he’s a good one. His partner is Zak Smyth-Unwin, pop music director and an abusive, drug user. He’s rude and uses Paloma to gain attention, after he got it, she just has to move to the background.
Zak got something to blackmail Alejandro with, so the only thing Alejandro can do is obey every command coming from Zak’s mouth.
Business and pleasure get entwined, something beautiful is blooming between Joe and Alejandro. Joe could get sacked when his boss finds out.
There are still threats and they are getting nastier and more violent.
This story is widely written and quite entertaining, the threats and the security parts are convincing displayed and well developed.
It’s a slow-burn with a lot of sensuality and tension. Besides the threats part, the romance is cute and endearing, Alejandro and Joe are sweet and tender together. It was all without hiccups, I expected more trouble in loveland.
As a bodyguard I found Joe unprofessional, he forgot things he should think about. Sometimes it was even embarrassing.
Altogether I enjoyed this story, a lot is going on, cyberbullying, drug use, homophobia, abuse, explosions, attacks, it’s all complicated and intriguing. The outcome was surprising. One complaint, for me, an extendedly written narrative like this one, needs a different end than what I found here because it ended, full of adrenaline, way too suddenly.
RATING: 
ANABELA’S REVIEW:
The night before he resumed service as CPO, Joe saved the most fascinating woman, Paloma, from her abusive boyfriend. What made her absolutely bewitching, though, was the fact that underneath the make up and the perfume, Joe knew for a fact that Paloma was actually a man. They shared a kiss and said goodbye, supposedly to never see each other again. Because, you see, Joe was married and so deep inside the closet he thought he’d never see the way out.
Back to work, Joe’s new charge wasn’t only someone he hadn’t considered for his job but also a man who had a surprising affect on the walls he’s around his heart. Alejandro was an enticing combination of all man built and feminine softness, strength and fragility, roughness and elegance. A colorful, flirty, sassy handful who kept Joe on his toes and made his heart rate spike up, even more so when he discovered that Alejo was the one who transformed into beautiful Paloma.
As expected, the more time Joe spent with Alejandro/Paloma the more he fell under his spell. The two men were sweet together, their connection written in such a way it felt like they were soul mates finally finding each other. But. Joe had a wife, Alejo had a boyfriend, albeit an abusive one, and the attacks on Alejo were increasingly dangerous. A harsh reality that continued to break the magical bubble the couple always isolated themselves in every time they were together.
It felt like a modern day fairy tale. The soldier and the royal, their happily ever after blocked by an violent ogre and all the ugliness of the outside world. The tale of a precious connection balanced that had to deal with hard reality, in a crescendo of danger that had a surprising finale.
I’m always excited for the books these two authors write together and I just knew it that, in The Reluctant royal, they would give their own flair to the bodyguard/client trope. I found their usual humor and amazing, lovable characters and I liked the suspense. I definitely appreciated the entertaining view on the British royal house, especially when I read the funny code names each royal had assigned by their protection teams.
RATING: 
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